


What's Inside

by thatpeculiarone



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Burgers & Pie, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Sharing a Bed, like really fluffy, super fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 12:37:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15049232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatpeculiarone/pseuds/thatpeculiarone
Summary: Dean's favourite nights of the week were Friday Nights because those were the nights he got to spend with Cas.They have been friends for five years. Friends and friends only.However, on one Friday night together and an awkward cooking experience later, hidden feelings threaten to arise.





	What's Inside

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So this giant fluffball is for the Profound Bond Gift Exchange!! 
> 
> My fic is for [Amanda](http://secretlyjensen.tumblr.com/). I hope you enjoy this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it! (I apologise for the Xtreme Fluff).
> 
> The title is based off What's Inside by Sara Bareilles.
> 
> Thanks to [Foxy](https://foxymoley.tumblr.com/) for being a wonderful mod. Here is the [link](https://discord.gg/GGbw2NP) to join the PB discord if you want to!
> 
> Thanks for reading! -Jess ([MASTERPOST](https://ilovetodreamx.tumblr.com/post/175244852372/whats-inside-by-thatpeculiarone-for))

Friday nights were Dean’s favourite night of the week.

 

Of course, that was reasonably common amongst most people he knew. However, everyone seemed to have a different reason as to why. Benny, his co-worker, enjoyed them because it meant that he had two days off to spend with his wife and daughter; whereas his best friend Charlie loved Friday nights because that was designated game night amongst her and her friends.

 

Dean on the other hand, loved Friday nights because that was his and Cas’ night.

 

Fridays always put him in a good mood, so by Friday nights he always had a bit of liveliness to him, despite the fact that he was drained after a long week. He gave a cheerful goodbye to the driver as he got off the bus, and there was a spring in his step as he journeyed from the bus stop to his friend’s apartment building.

 

He entered the building and dashed straight into the elevator, smiling and greeting the couple who walked out of it. He swiped the sensor attached to his keys and pressed the fourth button, watching as the doors closed and the box began to ascend. Cas had given Dean the swipe access for his building and the keys for his apartment, considering Dean came to his place almost every week. It was the reason why Dean didn’t bother knocking as soon as he reached Cas’ door and instead just let himself in. The apartment was practically Dean’s second home, there was no need for him to wait until Cas let him in.

 

Immediately upon entering, he spotted his friend. He was slumped on the couch in the living area, which was to the right of the doorway. He had his television remote in his hand and was aimlessly flicking through channels, boredom and exhaustion edged into every feature of his face. His royal blue tie (the one Dean had gotten him for the previous Christmas), hung loosely on his neck and the top buttons of his shirt were now undone. His shoes had been flung next to the couch, however Cas’ grey socks still covered his feet.

 

Cas looked over from the TV to greet Dean with a weary smile. Considering how worn his face looked and how he hadn’t bothered to shower yet, Dean could guess that his friend had a long day.

 

“Evening Cas,” He greeted, placing his workbag on the floor, “how are you today my friend?”

 

“Hello Dean.” Cas replied. “Quite fatigued – it’s been an interminable week. However, I am happy to see you. How are you?”

 

“Can’t complain,” He said with a grin, walking past Cas further into the apartment. He passed through the living area to Cas’ small kitchen, which was neat and tidy as per usual.

 

“So, I’m guessing lazy night tonight?” Dean called to his friend.

 

“That would be much appreciated.”

 

Dean nodded to himself and began to think about the night’s plans. Most of the time, their Friday nights were pretty much spent ordering take out and watching movies. Other times, they played board games or versed each other in poker. Sometimes, they went out to dinner or to the cinema or once – to the museum of all places. Dean never cared what happened though, because as long as he was with Cas, all those nights were enjoyable.

 

This routine of theirs had started two years prior, after Cas and Dean had moved out from the place they shared. They had met when Dean had first moved into the small share house five years ago, just shortly after he had moved from Kansas to Illinois. They had become good friends from their time living together, but it wasn’t hard when your other two housemates were either too high on weed or too obsessed with study for social interaction. As much as the both of them had enjoyed the company of Andy and Kevin respectively, they found much more comfort in each other’s presence than anything else.

 

It was why Dean had hoped (and assumed) when they moved out, that they would move out together. However, he was sadly mistaken when Cas had revealed he had gotten a place for himself and himself only. So instead, Dean looked for a place not too far from there and made sure that he organised time to see his friend as much as he could. Thus, the Friday night routine was born.

 

Dean peaked a look at his exhausted friend and decided that he would cook for them tonight. Cas had never been a chef of any sort as he’d never been skilled with his hands. Car maintenance, wood shop nor cooking was not his expertise, but rather academics, art and literature – areas that Dean lacked in. It enabled them the ability to learn from each other, which helped make them quite compatible as friends.

 

So knowing that Cas hadn’t had a home cooked meal in a while, Dean began to rummage around his kitchen to try and find something to cook.

 

Unfortunately for him, he found that Cas’ pantry and fridge were mostly empty, apart from the scarce food item here and there. There was barely any food in here for Cas to make himself something to snack on, let alone a fully nutritional meal. Dean sighed.

 

“Cas?” He walked out into the living area and met the gaze of his friend. “When was the last time you did a grocery shop?”

 

Cas’ face scrunched up slightly as he began to think. Dean became concerned that his friend actually couldn’t remember when he last bought food for himself. His suspicions were confirmed when Cas sent him a sheepish look.

 

“Well Cas,” Dean huffed, “I know what we’re going to do. You’re not going to like it though.”

 

 

 

That was how twenty minutes later, the two men found themselves in the middle of the local Walmart, scanning through the aisles for food. Well – Dean was the one searching for food, Cas on the other hand found himself whining the entire time.

 

“Is this really necessary?” Cas moaned. “Can’t we just order pizza for dinner? I can easily come back here tomorrow and get myself some groceries.”

 

Dean rolled his eyes, “We’re already here, quit complaining. I’m planning on cooking my specialty burgers tonight, since I know how much you _love_ them. However, we can always go back and get that two for one pizza special from Dmitri’s. You remember how much you loved their pizzas… what did you compare them to again? Oh right… you said it was as if you were eating oil straight from the grill.”

 

Castiel scowled over at Dean, whereas the latter just let a smug smile form on his lips.

 

“So, what’s it going to be Cas? You want my specialty burgers or not?”

 

Cas was silent for a few moments as if he was contemplating. Dean waited with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. It didn’t take long for Cas to meet Dean’s stare and huff a dramatic sigh.

 

“I want your specialty burgers.”

 

Dean grinned and sent Cas a wink, which made his friend blush slightly.

 

“Good choice. And as a bonus, I’ll grab some ingredients so I can make Mama Winchester’s speciality apple pie.”

 

Cas immediately beamed in delight.

 

They scavenged the aisles, getting the ingredients for the pie, the burgers and any other groceries Cas needed. They ended up in the aisle with the baking supplies and Dean found himself looking over the flours to see which one would best suit his mom’s recipe. Cas was further down the aisle, scanning and reading through each of the different packs of icing sugar with intense concentration. Dean watched him through his peripheral vision, his heart clenching at the sight. They hadn’t gone grocery shopping together since they lived together, which was many moons ago. He honestly missed living with Cas, missed doing mundane things with him, such as shopping or cleaning or doing laundry. There was this longing that he had, like a deep pull in his gut. It was a feeling he got every now and then when he was with his best friend, like when they lounged together on Cas’ couch or had dinner together at the local diner. It’s a feeling he felt since the first night he spent in his new place, alone without the comfort of knowing Cas was in the next room.

 

It was a feeling he quickly ignored, shoving it away as he grabbed a bag of flour of the shelf. Dean was always one for following his instincts, for listening when his body was trying to tell him something. However, this was _not_ one of those things.

 

He walked over to Cas with the trolley, watching as Cas placed the icing sugar inside, looking happy with his decision. Dean watched with fondness as his friend walked ahead, looking a bit lighter and warmer then Dean had seen him previously in the day. With a deep breath and a stubborn determination, Dean followed him, attempting to leave the feelings of longing behind.

 

 

 

After getting everything for the meals, along with a couple of various items for the week, Dean and Cas checked everything out. Cas was quick to protest and put up a fuss when Dean scanned his credit card to pay for everything, though Dean just told him to suck it up and proceeded to hand Cas a bunch of grocery bags to carry home. Cas pouted and sulked the whole way back to the apartment, as if he were a five-year-old.

 

That was one of the things about his friend, that made him all the more peculiar. Castiel was highly intelligent, having a doctorate in Quantum Physics and a bachelor in Ancient Greek Literature. He lectured at the University of Chicago, which was only about a twenty-minute bus ride from his apartment. He used words and language that Dean didn’t understand and attempted to have many philosophical discussions with Dean - some of which made Dean’s head spin. Dean wouldn’t call himself unintelligent, but he was not even near Cas’ level. That man had a brain up there with the late Stephen Hawking’s (well… at least that’s what Dean thought).

 

However, on the other hand, Cas sometimes had the mentality of a child. He was an excitable man, usually getting ecstatic over the simplest of things. He also became entranced in things quite easily, such as the television, causing Dean to sometimes click his fingers to snap him out of it. Additionally, he liked to whine and moan, pout and give Dean puppy dog stares. Although he’d never admit it to his friend, sometimes Dean found it quite hilarious. How one minute, his friend could be attempting to explain a quantum physics theory to Dean and the next second begin to whine about something completely unrelated. It was just another thing to check off of things Dean ~~loved~~ liked about his friend.

 

Back at the apartment, Dean immediately got them both to work. He began to prepare the ingredients for the burgers, tearing the lettuce and chopping the tomatoes. Cas on the other hand, began to make the dough, placing all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and kneading it with his hands. They worked in a comfortable silence, with the only sounds in the kitchen being Dean’s chopping and the sizzling of the frying pan. Again, it reminded Dean of back at the share house. They used to do this together all the time, as Dean had made it his mission to teach Cas a few of his tricks of the trade.

 

Dean left the patties sizzling on a low heat to go and check on how Castiel was doing. He was attempting to knead and roll out the dough to the level of consistency that was needed for the base. Dean was pleased to see how the dough turned out, it was soft and fluffy, just like he wanted it. However, Cas was attempting to knead the dough all wrong, which is why the thickness wasn’t quite right.

 

“You aren’t doing it right,” Dean said, “You’re smacking it as if it is the bottom of a ketchup bottle… you need to knead it with the heels of your hands.”

 

Cas flashed him a quick look before attempting to do so again, except it still was imprecise. His hand was flat as paper, so it dug into the dough wrong. Rather than kneading it, he was pretty much just leaving indents of his hand into the mixture.

 

Instead of getting frustrated, Dean came up behind Cas and grabbed his hands in his own.

 

“Here, let me show you.”

 

He placed his hands on top of Cas’, intertwining their fingers slightly. He could see Cas give him a confused look, but Dean just shook his head at him. He lowered their hands to the mixture and began to knead the dough, making sure the heels of Castiel’s hands were putting just the right amount of pressure. He did this for a few moments, to the point where he started to relax a little too much. Dean felt so comfortable as he helped Cas knead and couldn’t help but notice the way their fingers fit together so nicely. Or the way Dean’s body seemed to mould well against Cas’, or how being this close allowed Dean truly to smell the delightful scent of Cas’ cologne. And…

 

And…

 

What. The. Hell. Was. He. Doing.

 

Dean was quick to leap away from Cas as soon as he realised how that moment had gone on for way too long. Way longer than what could be considered ‘platonic’. Dean mentally slapped himself for his stupidity… God what was wrong with him? He was only a couple of seconds off from turning ‘platonically kneading dough with his best friend’ into a re-enactment of the scene from _Ghost_. Dean, in frustration, ran a hand through his hair, whereas Cas turned to look at him, concern lacing his features.

 

“Sorry ‘bout that Cas,” He said with a weak smile, “you continue kneading. I’m going to get the burgers ready.”

 

Before Dean turned away to continue cooking, he swore he saw a look of disappointment on his friend’s face.

 

 

 

Half an hour later, after the apple pie was cooking in the oven and the dishes were in the dishwasher, Dean and Cas sat down to eat their dinner. They sat across from each other, both of them quietly munching on their burgers. Dean’s burger looked like it could be one of the leading causes of high cholesterol, with the amount of bacon, cheese and ketchup he squeezed into there. Cas’ on the other hand, was much simpler, with it being mainly vegetables.

 

They ate in silence, the two of them exchanging awkward glances between each other. There was tension between them, Dean could feel it as if it were smog in the room. Dean knew it was all his fault, for how he acted back in the kitchen. There had been an unpleasant atmosphere in the room since then and Dean could see it written all over Cas’ face. He looked uncomfortable as he sat and ate his burger, purposefully trying not to make eye contact with Dean. Dean found himself sighing and putting his burger down.

 

“Look Cas, I’m so sorry for what happened. I’m really sorry that I made you uncomfortable.” Dean stated, causing his friend to lock eyes with him.

 

“Dean you didn’t make me uncomfortable…that wasn’t the problem.” Castiel replied.

 

Dean huffed, “Cas, you don’t have to lie to me, okay? I took it too far and I shouldn’t have done that. You’re my best friend and that was entirely too intimate. I didn’t have a clear head and the moment just got away from me. For that I’m sorry, I totally understand if you need some space.”

 

Cas looked irritated, “Dean! I’m not angry and I don’t need space from you! I’m just confused… why _did_ you let it go on for so long?”

 

Dean opened his mouth to reply, to say something, yet no words could come out. I mean what could he say? _I let it go on for so long because I have this huge crush on you? I really, really like you? I may even be in love with you?_ He couldn’t say anything to Cas because not only would that be embarrassing as hell, but it would effectively ruin his friendship with his best friend.

 

It’s why he had kept his infatuation with Cas a secret for all these years. He knew he liked the other man during their duration of living together. From the get go it had been easy with Cas, the way they just seemed to click together as friends. Despite all their differences, they got along well; they were able to have an understanding of each other’s likes and dislikes, along with their sense of humour. They interacted constantly, to the point Dean realised that his feeling towards his friend had moved from platonic into more uncharted territory. At first it was a slight crush, but it wasn’t long before those feelings grew deeper, stronger and planted themselves inside of Dean. Soon, the longing became all too consistent and Dean knew that this was more than just a crush.

 

However, there was no way he could bring any of this up to Cas. So instead, he stared into his friend’s eyes, trying to subtly plead with him to _drop it_. Cas was stubborn though and he narrowed his eyes, staring at Dean with a further intensity. Dean stared back into Cas’ blue eyes, eyes that were too blue for Dean to consider them normal, and he began to become flushed. This moment had its own intimacy to it, as if the both of them were practically eye fucking. Dean looked away from Cas’ eyes to his nose and then down to the small curve of his lips. He remembers the many nights he stared at Cas’ lips during their dinners together, the way Cas would gracefully eat his meal, licking his lips for crumbs afterwards. He remembers the thoughts that laced his mind in bed afterwards, the thoughts that made him get up to take a cold shower.

 

Dean looked at the stubble that surrounded Cas' mouth and the soft definition of his cheekbones. He looked at Cas’ hair, ruffled in a way that could lead Dean’s mind to wander. He realised that he was again not focusing on the situation and instead letting the infatuation take over, to the point that he was only a couple of seconds from letting his guard down completely. So he grabbed his plate and retreated from the dining table into the kitchen, doing his best to get away from Cas and the inappropriate thoughts which had begun to lace his mind.

 

He poured the leftovers of his burger into the bin, his appetite now gone. He then placed his plate in the sink and turned the water on, beginning to wash it. He took a few deep breaths and settled on calming his mind, trying to see the situation more clearly. He didn’t want to let this situation get out of control, for it to slip from his grasp and become one big mess. His friendship with Cas was too important to be ruined over Dean’s impulsive mind.

 

He finished washing the plate and placed it on the drying rack, beginning to dry his hands by shaking them. He began to turn around to head back into the dining room, to apologise for the entire night, yet before he could – he was interrupted by a strong hands gripping his shoulders. Before he could say anything, he was spun around so that his back rested against the sink. He was now forced to stare at Castiel, whose strong hands still held him tight and whose eyes were filled with this desire Dean had never seen. He had seen his friend’s eyes only moments ago, in their usual light sparking blue shade. However now, they had darkened considerably and were sending Dean a gaze that made the latter shudder with goose bumps.

 

“I don’t know if I’m reading signals wrong and whether this is going to turn out to be the most humiliating moment of my life.” Cas spoke, his voice considerably gravellier. “However, I want to kiss the fuck out of you, but only if you want me too.”

 

Dean could feel the shock race through him like a lightning bolt. He hadn’t been expecting that, not at all. The thought had never crossed his mind that Cas would be interested in him, in the same way he was interested in Cas. His friend had never shown any signs of being interested in Dean in a way that wasn’t platonic, he always seemed like he just considered Dean a friend, rather than a romantic interest. He also hadn’t expected Cas to every been this forward, he’d always been such a recluse and sometimes very shy and awkward. The fact that he was this overt right now, with a hefty display of dominance, was quite a bit of a turn on for Dean.

 

Dean knew he didn’t have to say anything and instead gripped Cas’ button up with his wet hands. He pulled Cas forward so that their lips met forcefully. At first, the kiss was pretty much standstill as both Dean and Cas got used to the fact that this was _actually_ happening. It was Cas who began to move first, his lips slowly moulding themselves against Dean’s. Dean followed his lead and began to move his lips too, slowly and gently against Cas’. It was soft and tentative at first, just the two of them becoming familiar with the other.

 

Cas pulled away slightly, but still close enough that Dean could feel his warm breath fanning against his lips.

 

“Before we continue any further,” Cas murmured, his lips slightly swollen “I just want to make sure we’re on the same page. I don’t want just one night with you, or just sex. I don’t want this to become a friends with benefits type of deal. I want you Dean, everything about you. I want this to be as permanent as it can be, I want to be able to call you my boyfriend to my peers. I’m not looking for short term with you, but long term. If you can’t do that, then this can’t continue.”

 

Dean could feel the way his lips curved into a grin at Cas’ words. His heart felt heavy with a feeling of joy, like a balloon ready to burst.

 

“Cas,” He replied in a hoarse voice, “I’ve wanted this for a long time. Not just a fling, I never wanted just a fling. So can you just shut up and keep kissing me already?”

 

Soon Cas’ face mirrored Dean’s and before he knew it, Cas was sweeping in, connecting their lips once again. A small part of Dean wondered if he was dreaming, if this was all just a figment of his imagination somehow. It all seemed too surreal, after the many nights he fantasised about a moment exactly like this. He wondered if reality would come crashing down on him at any moment and he would wake up to find that all of this ceased to exist.

 

However, he didn’t care to find out and instead, just let himself sink into the moment and make sure that it was one to last.

 

 

Hours later, the two of them found themselves in Cas’ bed, wrapped up together under the covers. Dean was wearing a band shirt of Cas’ along with track pants that were entirely too small for him. Cas had his pyjamas on and was currently invested in the Netflix show that Dean had chucked onto the laptop. A tray with a half-eaten apple pie dish sat between them and crumbs lingered on the blanket.

 

Dean rested his head against Cas’ chest, feeling a sense of comfort from the small vibrations he would feel when Cas would chuckle at a scene. As he closed his eyes to try and sleep, a thought brought a small smile to his lips.

 

Yeah…

 

Friday nights were definitely his favourite night of the week.

 


End file.
